NCJ Number
169297
Date Published
1990
Length
39 pages
Annotation
Following a review of the current management styles and organizational structure in the British police system, this paper offers recommendations for changes in both style and structure.
Abstract
Currently, the senior levels of the police forces in Great Britain operate in classic hierarchical fashion. Yet police officers on the street are grouped into small shifts along with two levels of supervisor, sergeant, and inspector. They operate in the community and away from the bureaucracy. An important additional feature is that frontline constables operate around the clock, while the bureaucracy works mainly in the day. This further increases the distance between the top management and the operational officer. The constable has never been part of the police bureaucracy, and the individual officer works in a small group but often alone. Similarly, operational detectives and other specialist groups operate outside the police bureaucracy, and these differing groups relate to each other formally and informally, sometimes using the hierarchical structure and sometimes using less structured means. The author argues that police already work in appropriately sized work units, so what needs to change is the shape of the bureaucracy and its task. What also needs to change is the kind of people who manage the bureaucracy. The "flattened" bureaucracy should change in content to include more individuals who are not police officers; most of the police ranks should be removed. Highly trained, professional police officers would work in small teams with a coordinator to respond to community needs and cooperate with other community organizations and workers to enhance the quality of life in the community they serve. Appended organizational charts, a discussion of the financial control and accountability in the Metropolitan Police, and an 18-item bibliography